To avoid a restriction unlawful under European law of a company’s freedom of establishment in the context of the profits of a foreign controlled company and that company’s right of freedom of establishment, the court could properly read into the 1988 Act an additional exception.
Sir Andrew Morritt, C quoted counsel in setting out the principles requiring domestic legislation, where appropriate, to accord with European legislation it was intended to implement, saying: ‘the obligation on the English courts to construe domestic legislation consistently with Community law obligations is both broad and far-reaching. In particular: (a) it is not constrained by conventional rules of construction . . (b) it does not require ambiguity in the legislative language . . ; c) it is not an exercise in semantics or linguistics . . ; (d) it permits departure from the strict and literal application of the words which the legislature has elected to use . . ; (e) it permits the implication of words necessary to comply with Community law obligations . . ; and (f) the precise form of the words to be implied does not matter . . ‘ and ‘The only constraints on the broad and far-reaching nature of the interpretative obligation are that: (a) the meaning should go with the grain of the legislation and be compatible with the underlying thrust of the legislation being construed . .’
Judges:
Sir Andrew Morritt, Chancellor, Lord Justice Longmore and Lord Justice Goldring
Citations:
[2009] EWCA Civ 446, [2009] BTC 273, [2010] Eu LR 110, [2010] Bus LR 96, [2010] 2 WLR 288, [2009] STI 1795, [2010] Ch 77, [2009] STC 1480
Links:
Statutes:
Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 748(1)(a)
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Robertson v Swift SC 9-Sep-2014
Notice Absence did not Remove Right to Cancel
The defendant had contracted to arrange the removal of the claimant’s household goods on moving house. The claimant cancelled the contract, made at his housel, but refused to pay the cancellation fee, saying that the contract not having been made at . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Corporation Tax, European
Updated: 26 July 2022; Ref: scu.346307